Scalable Electro-optical Assembly Techniques for Silicon Photonics Bert Jan Offrein, Tymon Barwicz, Paul Fortier OIDA Workshop on Manufacturing Trends for Integrated Photonics
Outline Broadband large channel count electro-optical fiber-chip interfacing technique for silicon photonics Scalable and tolerant assembly techniques Summary 2
Why integration? Looking back, electronics Pictures taken at: Whirlwind, MIT, 1952 EAI 580 patch panel, Electronic Associates, 1968 Today s state of computing is based on: - Integration and scaling of the logic functions (CMOS electronics) - Integration and scaling of the interconnects (PCB technology & assembly) 3 For optical interconnects, this resembles: - Electro-optical integration and scaling of transceiver technology - Integration of optical connectivity and signal distribution
Photonics technologies for system-level integration 1 Chip-level: CMOS silicon photonics + Active photonics devices Si photonics provides all required buliding blocks (except lasers) on chip-level: - Modulators - Drivers - Detectors - Amplifiers - WDM filters + CMOS electronics 2 System-level: Scalable chip-to-fiber connectivity One step mating of numerous optical interfaces Provide electrical and optical signal routing capability Enable a simultaneous interfacing of electrical and optical connections
Photonics technologies for system-level integration 1 Chip-level: CMOS silicon photonics + Active photonics devices Si photonics provides all required buliding blocks (except lasers) on chip-level: - Modulators - Drivers - Detectors - Amplifiers - WDM filters + CMOS electronics 2 System-level: Scalable chip-to-fiber connectivity One step mating of numerous optical interfaces Provide electrical and optical signal routing capability Enable a simultaneous interfacing of electrical and optical connections
Adiabatic optical coupling using polymer waveguides Principle: Contact between the silicon waveguide taper and the polymer waveguide (PWG), achieved by flip-chip bonding, enables adiabatic optical coupling Schematic view of Si- photonics chip assembled by flip-chip bonding Compatible with established electrical assembly Simultaneous E/O interfacing Scalable to many optical channels - J. Shu, et al. "Efficient coupler between chip-level and board-level optical waveguides." Optics letters 36.18 (2011): 3614-3616. - I. M. Soganci, et al. "Flip-chip optical couplers with scalable I/O count for silicon photonics." Optics express 21.13 (2013): 16075-16085. - T. Barwicz, et al. "Low-cost interfacing of fibers to nanophotonic waveguides: design for fabrication and assembly tolerances., Photonics Journal, IEEE 6.4 (2014): 1-18. 6
Wafer- size SM waveguide Panel-size Chip-size IBM Research / IBM Assembly and Test Services Single-mode polymer waveguide technology SM polymer waveguides on chips (e.g. Si photonics chips) SM polymer waveguides on panel-size flexible substrates SM polymer waveguides on wafer-size flexible substrates 50 mm 7 R. Dangel, et al. Optics Express, 2015
Adiabatic coupler loss characterization Coupler loss measurement: Direct-process vs Flip-chip bonding approach For L c 1.0 mm: Coupler loss < 1.5 db, PDL 0.7 db Operating in the O and C-band 8 Polymer waveguides processed on chip Polymer waveguides attached by flip-chip bonding
Insertion loss characterization (1) Insertion loss measurement: Wavelength sweep over O-band Full path vs ref. PWG path Wavelength dependency mainly in the PWG IL/2 of reference PWG (db) 5 4 3 2 1 TE, L PWG = 3.0 cm TM, L PWG = 3.0 cm 0 1260 1280 1300 1320 1340 1360 1380 Wavelength (nm) 5 4 TE, L C = 1.5 mm TM, L C = 1.5 mm IL/facet (db) 3 2 Schematic view of Siphotonics chip assembled by flip-chip bonding 1 0 1260 1280 1300 1320 1340 1360 1380 Wavelength (nm) 9
Insertion loss characterization (2) Insertion loss statistics: High number of optical interfaces: 152 per chip 94 interfaces for silicon couplers 58 interfaces for polymer waveguide references For L C = 0.5, 1.0 mm,, 3.0 mm Top-view of Si-photonics chip assembled by flip-chip bonding ~100 functional assembled optical IO s per chip 94 optical interfaces per chip, assembled simultaneously 17 connections used for offset measurements (34 interfaces) 30 connections for coupler length variations (60 interfaces) 24 (48 interfaces) from 25 connections plotted above, only one connection not functional 10
Optical results for high throughput compatible approaches 11 Barwicz et al., OFC 17 Tu3K.4
High throughput assembly strategy Singlemode / Multi-connection Development by IBM Assembly and Test Services (Bromont). Design concepts by IBM TJ Watson research. Leverage std microelectronics assembly tools & processes. Passive self-alignment to reduce assembly time & cost Scalable volumes - High throughput automated assembly Scalable multi-channel connections Microelectronics assembly infrastructure Clip ASICS Ferrule Optical interconnect Electrical IC Silicon photonics Optics integration with microelectronics Using microelectronics packaging knowhow Sectional view of microelectronic module with integrated optics Low cost packaging / Scalable / Seamless integration of optics with microelectronics 12 More details: Invited talk Tu3K.4 Tymon Barwicz
Approach #1: Compliant polymer assembly MT ferrule fiber interface Silicon Photonic chip Polymer waveguide Dense parallel channel array (50µm pitch) Wide spectral range (O,S,C,L bands) Polarization independent Compliant material for CPI risk mitigation Assembly using high throughput pick n place tools Innovations to enable use of standard microelectronic assembly tools A A Polymer from: Coupling region top view Just before touch down Section A-A 13 Passive self alignment using ridge / groove Removes high precision placement requirement Just after touch down Dynamic parallelism adjustment using flexible membrane with pressure cavity
Approach #2: Fiber array assembly A B A Parallel channel array Wide spectral range (O,S,C,L bands) Polarization independent B Assembly using high throughput pick n place tools Innovations to enable use of standard microelectronic assembly tools Section A-A Fiber Lid Mode converter Adhesive 14 Section B-B Passive self alignment using V-grooves Removes high precision placement requirement Sliding plane base for fiber butting Convert vertical placement force to horizontal sliding
Acknowledgements Collaborators in IBM Folkert Horst, Daniel Jubin, Norbert Meier, Roger Dangel, Antonio La Porta, Jonas Weiss William Green, Jessie Rosenberg, Wilfried Haensch Hidetoshi Numata, Yoichi Taira Nicolas Boyer, Alexander Janta-Polczynski, Richard Langlois, Elaine Cyr, Yan Thibodeau, Francis Gagne Dow Corning, AGC, Furukawa, AFL Global Co-funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme This project has received funding from the European Union s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No s Agreement No 688572 15
Summary Adiabatic optical coupling enables efficient, broadband and polarization independent silicon photonics chip-to-fiber interfacing Demonstrated simultaneous interfacing of up to 152 channels per chip Fiber-to-chip insertion loss < 4 db, PDL < 0.7 db Low cost / High throughput single-mode optical interconnect assembly techniques leveraging existing microelectronic packaging infrastructure Path towards high level of electro-optical integration & scalability 16
Thank you for your attention Bert Jan Offrein, ofb@zurich.ibm.com Tymon Barwicz, tymon@us.ibm.com Paul Fortier, pfortier@ca.ibm.com 17